Effects of Corona‐Discharge Induced Oxygen Ion Beams and Electric Fields on Silicon Oxidation Kinetics: I . Ion Beam Effects

At temperatures between 500° and 950°C, in an oxygen ambient, a flux of either negative or positive oxygen ions, generated via a point‐to‐plane corona discharge, is directed to the front side of a silicon wafer. Electrical contact to the wafer was made via the back side. Both ion beam polarities lead to oxidation enhancement, but with very different oxide thickness profiles, even though the ion beam current density profiles in the gas phase at the surface are almost identical. Wafer orientation, , current, temperature, and time dependences have been studied.